Message
by TVDVampire
Summary: Stefan is angry. Elena is hurt. Does he still care? She doesn't think so.


**A/N: I got the idea for this story a while back and decided to finally write it. Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks.**

Message

She sat against the cold stone, holding her phone out in front of her. She could barely read the screen with the tears clouding her eyes. But she needed to call him, the only one she could call right now. The only one she could count on. As her hands shook and her fingers trembled, she struggled to hit the call button. After a few moments, she took a shaky breath and hit send. She waited, listening to the rings that were distant to her ears. When his voice came on the phone, prompting her to leave a message, she squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again instantly. She could not leave a voice message. She feared her voice would betray her. So the call was ended.

Elena set the phone down beside her, then pulled her knees up close to her. Her long brown hair shielded her face from the night sky. A cold breeze passed by her, but she barely noticed it. Why was he not picking up? She needed him. Again, Elena picked up her phone in her shaky hands and tried a text message. It took forever to send with her trembling fingers hitting the wrong letters on the key pad. But she managed to send it. Maybe he was someplace where he could not answer her call but could read her message? For now, she would sit in the darkness and wait. That was all she could do.

He downed another glass of bourbon, feeling good but not good enough. His feet were propped up on the table across from him. An old grandfather clock sat perched on the wall above him, reminding him every so often that time was passing. But he had stopped caring about time. It was not important anymore. He had all the time in the world. That is what immortality did to you.

Damon's phone had buzzed across the table moments before. The obnoxious noise had caught Stefan's attention. Enough so that he had picked up the phone to see what the caller ID read. Elena. Stefan had laughed at that. It was all still too funny to him. Like some practical joke that he was supposed to laugh off and move on from. What had happened was no joke though – it was reality. A sad, heart wrenching reality that Stefan could only react to by laughing at the thought of it. Too bad for her, Damon had left town for a few days. He had left his phone apparently.

When Damon's phone buzzed one more time, Stefan reluctantly grabbed for it and found a new text message waiting on the phone. It was from Elena. Did he have the right to read it? To invade their privacy? No. But did Damon and Elena have the right to turn his life upside down? To pain him so deeply that he contemplated ending it all?

So Stefan opened the message. As far as he knew, Damon and Elena were not together. She had wanted to keep the distance after what had happened. So Stefan was not expecting to read a lovey dovey message from her. He was not sure what he expected to read. _Can you come get me? _was what Stefan read. He held on to Damon's phone for a moment, thinking about how he would reply. He did not want to see her. He had told her as much. But somehow he needed to see her. To ask her why? Why she had ripped his heart out, metaphorically speaking of course. _Where are you? _he messaged back. _Behind The Grill_ she replied. Stefan gripped the phone tightly in his hand.

He drew in a shaky breath, willing himself to calm down. He would not scream at her this time. He had raised his voice at her the last time they stood in front of one another. She was crying, but so was he. She was guilt-ridden, and Stefan was angry. Hurt, really, but anger was easier. No one knew that better than Damon, who had fled the house as soon as Elena had arrived. _The coward _Stefan thought. He could not even man up and stick by Elena's side as she spilled her regret in front of Stefan. She hated herself. Stefan knew that Elena hated herself for what she had done. And Stefan went on letting her hate herself. Why? To remind her of what she had done to him. That's why. It was wrong to let Elena go on feeling that way about herself, but it was wrong of her to have hurt him so deeply.

So he would not scream at her this time when he saw her. But he was going to get answers. Damon was not around to answer the questions that Stefan had, though Stefan was sure that Damon could not answer truthfully. He never could. Elena though, she was honest to a fault when she needed to be. And she needed to be honest with him tonight. Stefan was going to make sure that Elena gave him the answers he so desperately wanted. Even if it took all night. He would never compel her, but he would force her to talk, interrogate her until she broke down and told him everything.

Scream? Interrogate? Force? These were not Stefan. He did not control others. Especially not Elena. Because he loved her. But she did not feel the same. No matter how many times Elena pleaded with Stefan to believe her that she had made a mistake, that she truly did love him, he did not believe it. Elena was a liar. She was impulsive. She was selfish. She was … Katherine. All over again.

Stefan grabbed his sweatshirt off of the back of the chair and put it on. He reached for his car keys on the table and made his way into the cool night air. Tonight, he would meet Elena. And he would get answers.

Elena focused on her breathing, keeping it even. She wanted to be calm and collected when Damon arrived. She hurt everywhere though. Her whole body ached. But it was her senses that were running high. Every small noise evoked a striking fear in her. Every small movement caught her attention, increasing her heart rate.

A car door slammed, causing her to jump, but she knew it was Damon. Because she did not sense fear. She sensed relief and safety. His footsteps could be heard walking her way. Elena struggled to get up to her feet, using the wall for support. The area was poorly lit, but she let the wall guide her.

"Damon" Elena breathed with a sigh of relief. But when she looked up, she stopped suddenly. The dark silhouette standing before her did not belong to Damon. It belonged to someone else. Stefan.

"No, not Damon" Stefan said neutrally. Her heart began to race all over again.

"Where's Damon?" she asked, almost demanding to know.

"Out of town" Stefan replied bluntly. "What are you doing back here?" he asked, more out of curiosity than anything. He could make her out pretty well in the poor light, but she was hiding her face from him. Her long hair fell around it. When Elena did not answer, he tried again. "What did you need Damon for?" Stefan asked. He was going to use that question to lead into his many questions he had for her that night. Why Damon?

"Nothing" Elena spoke quietly, but she did a poor job of hiding the anxiety seeping through her voice. There were tears in her eyes that had been threatening to fall for over an hour, but they didn't and she hoped that they wouldn't. Not in front of him. Not in front of Stefan. "How did you know I was here?" she asked, trying to distract him some. She could feel his eyes on her.

"Damon left his phone. I read his message" Stefan answered. He would not deny that he was invading Damon's privacy. "I thought you two weren't seeing each other anymore?' Stefan questioned. Elena hated that tone that he used. The one he used when he was jealous and wanting to throw something in her face. He was looking to pick a fight with her and any other time, she might have taken the bait. But not tonight. She just … couldn't.

"I'm leaving now" Elena said coldly, hoping to get past him without him seeing the marks. The reminders of what had happened to her earlier that night. She was not bleeding, thankfully. He would have been able to sense it if she had been. Would he have cared? She didn't know. As Elena moved forward to walk past him, he stepped in front of her, blocking her path. Elena closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"You know, you don't have to sneak around with Damon anymore. We're over. You're free to mess around with anyone you want" he shrugged, continuing with that jealous, immature ring in his voice.

"Move" Elena said, catching the frustration rising in her. "Just move." When Stefan did not move, Elena tried to go around him. He caught her by the arm, refusing to let her leave. He had come for answers and he was going to get them.

Elena immediately yelped in pain, causing Stefan to let go of her instantly. Had he grabbed her that hard? Had he really just caused her physical pain? The tears finally spilled from her eyes due to the sharp throbbing pain in her arm. He hadn't grabbed her that hard, but with the previous bruise still fresh from earlier, it had been enough pressure to hurt her. Elena moved away from Stefan as quickly as she could, finding the wall once again and sliding to the ground, clutching her arm. Stefan was at her side immediately, bent down next to her. Suddenly, his anger with her was no longer present. It had been replaced with concern. "Elena, what's wrong?" he asked, searching her tear-filled eyes for an answer. But Elena did not answer. Stefan took out his phone and used the light to see. He shined it over her arm and saw the blue and purple mark covering her upper arm. Stefan moved his phone in front of Elena's face, only to feel his heart sink when he saw her swollen eye and busted lip. "Elena?" he asked, using his free hand to move a strand of hair out of her face so he could see better.

"Jesus" he said, examining her face. Elena moved as far back as she could against the wall, shying away from his touch. Stefan's concern turned to anger in a matter of seconds. He reminded himself to stay calm. The last thing he needed was to cause her any more distress. "Who did this?" Stefan asked. Elena could hear the anger in his voice. "Elena?" he asked.

Elena took a small breath before she said anything. "He just wanted my purse. It was no big deal. I put up a bit of a fight. But he got what he wanted and it's over now" she answered as if she rehearsed it. Stefan was pretty sure she was trying to convince herself of this and not him.

"No big deal?" Stefan scoffed. "God Elena, look at you!" Stefan exclaimed. "Your eye is swollen. Your lip is cut. And your arm could possibly be fractured!" Elena put her face in her hands and began to cry all over again. Stefan mentally kicked himself for his small outburst. But he was angry. "I'm sorry Elena" he apologized. "I didn't mean to yell" he told her.

"I just want to go home" she said, continuing to cry into her hands. She wanted to forget this night ever happened.

"I have to take you to a hospital" Stefan told her.

Elena's head flew up from her hands immediately. "No!" she shouted. "I don't need a hospital. I need to go home!"

Stefan stood up in disbelief. Was she really going to argue against him on this? "You need to see a doctor Elena. Something could be broken. You could have internal bleeding …" he said, going to down the list.

"I said no!" she said, raising her voice again. "Either take me home, or leave" she said in a low, shaky tone. Stefan ran his hand over his head, willing an answer to come to him. She was clearly upset and taking her to the hospital would make her even more upset. But he was concerned about her injuries.

Elena struggled to stand up, pushing against the wall to steady herself. Elena slowly shuffled her feet forward, past Stefan. He hung his head low, closing his eyes as he debated on what to do.

But as Elena slipped farther and farther away from him, he spoke up. "Elena" he said. "Wait." Elena stopped, hanging onto the wall. "I'll take you home." Stefan moved toward her, putting his arm around her for support. Elena tensed at his touch, something that did not go unnoticed by him. "Come on" he said, walking slowly beside her towards his car. Elena leaned into him more and more with each step. Her legs were starting to give out from under her and before she knew it, she was in his arms, being carried the rest of the way.

Elena rested her head against the window of Stefan's car, watching the few cars that were out, pass by her. Stefan hadn't said a word to her since they had gotten in the car. He had turned the heat on in his car, but she still felt cold.

The drive seemed to take forever, but finally, Stefan was pulling his car along the curb. He looked around briefly before speaking. "Where's Jenna?" he asked, noticing that her car was gone.

Elena lifted her head off of the window and winced slightly from the pain. "She and Jeremy are visiting a cousin in Georgia for the week" she answered.

Stefan processed her answer. "You can't stay by yourself" he stated.

Elena unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door. "I'll be fine. Thank you for the ride" she said, getting out slowly. By the time she reached the first step to her house, she bent over and steadied herself against the handrail. A wave of pain shot through her side, paralyzing her momentarily. Stefan got out of the car and was at her side instantly.

"Let me help you" he told her, placing a hand on her back and grabbing her hand to help her up.

Elena yanked her hand away from his. "I don't need your help" she said with bite in her tone. Elena took a deep breath and started up the stairs, taking them one at a time. Stefan remained close as he followed her. Fumbling with the key, Elena got the door unlocked and let herself in. Stefan followed, shutting it behind them. "Stefan, just go home" Elena said, stopping at the stairway.

Stefan crossed his arms over his chest. "I can't let you stay here alone. Not when I don't know what kind of injuries you have" he told her. "

I told you I'm fine. I just need a shower and some sleep" she said, not bothering to turn and face him. "You can see yourself out" she said before slowly climbing the stairs. Stefan watched her until she was no longer in sight. What was it about her that still made him care?

Elena, dressed in her pajamas, exited her bathroom, only to jump suddenly when she entered her room and saw a figure sitting near her window. Stefan was looking outside her window, watching her deserted yard gather a blanket of snow. Elena placed her hand over her chest, feeling her heart beat fast. "What are you still doing here?" she questioned.

"The snow is really coming down now. The weather forecast is calling for 12 to 18 inches by morning" he said flatly.

"Then you had better get home before the roads get too bad to drive on" Elena commented.

"I need to make sure you're okay before I leave" he said, not putting too much meaning behind those words.

Elena laughed to herself with an edge in her voice that Stefan had only begun to hear recently. He figured that she had acquired it while hanging out with Damon. "Last I remember, you told me I could go straight to Hell" she reminded him.

"I was angry" Stefan said, looking back out the window. He still was. Elena pulled the covers back on her bed and slowly climbed in. She was too exhausted to fight with him tonight. Hopefully, he would be gone by morning.

Stefan got up and walked over to her bed, taking a seat next to her. He turned her lamp on, causing her to protest. "What are you doing?" she asked, sitting up and glaring at him.

Stefan examined her face for a second time that night. The swelling around her lip and her eye had increased. Her arm was in pretty bad shape now too. "Where else are you hurt?" he asked. Elena avoided his eyes and sat there quietly. "Elena, I'm not leaving until I make sure you're okay. I've got nowhere else to be" he reminded her.

Elena gave an annoyed sigh. "My stomach" she said quietly.

"Can I look?" he asked hesitantly. When Elena did not respond, he moved slowly to lift up her shirt slightly. He could see the bruising already appearing on her lower abdomen. He rested his fingers over her stomach lightly, but it was enough to make her gasp in pain and attempt to move away from him.

"Don't, please" she begged softly, hoping that he would stop examining her injuries and let her be. She was in too much pain.

Stefan furrowed his brow. "You could be bleeding internally" he said. "You need to see a doctor."

Elena shook her head no. "I told you, I don't want to see a doctor. I want to rest" she said stubbornly.

"Elena …" he tried, but she was quick to cut him off.

"I said no Stefan!" she said, raising her voice slightly.

"Fine" Stefan said, giving up on that idea. He bit his wrist and she watched as he held it out to her. "If you won't go to a doctor, you have to take some of my blood to ensure that you heal" he told her. Elena watched the blood trickle out of the open cut on his wrist. Why was he doing this? She wanted to ask him, but she could not bring herself to do it. Instead, she grabbed his wrist and began to take some of his blood, cringing at the taste. When she had had enough, Stefan pulled away from her. Elena wiped at her mouth before settling back down in her bed. It only took a few minutes for her pain to begin to ease. She was healing.

Stefan sat on the edge of her bed and watched her until he could hear her breathing even and knew she was asleep. He went back to his spot at the window and watched the snow come down even harder. He knew that if he did not leave now, he would not be able to make it home. Stefan turned back to look at Elena, listening intently to make sure she was still breathing. He couldn't drag himself away from this home, knowing that Elena was healing from injuries with his blood in her system. He needed to make sure she would be okay.

Elena's eyes fluttered open to a bright light streaming in through her window. She squinted her eyes as she sat up, waiting for the pain to appear from her injuries last night. But she did not hurt anymore, except her head. She grabbed it with one hand and groaned. "Stefan" she said quietly, remembering that he had been with her last night and had given her some of his blood. That is why she had healed and also why her head hurt. But Stefan was gone now. She got up and pulled a sweatshirt over her head before heading down the stairs to get something for her head. As soon as she got to the kitchen, Elena opened up a drawer and got the Aspirin out. She got a glass of water and took the pills. As she leaned against the counter, she heard a faint noise in the other room. Her heart began to beat faster. Another noise sounded and Elena quickly opened up a drawer, grabbing a knife. Carefully, she rounded the island countertop and walked slowly toward the living room. The noise went away, causing Elena to stop. Elena took a deep breath, held up her knife, and stepped into the living area. A figure appeared in front of her, causing her to gasp and raise the knife to stab whoever the intruder was.

"Jesus Elena!" Stefan yelled, grabbing her wrist and stopping the knife from piercing into his chest. Elena's eyes filled with fear as she realized what she had almost done. Slowly, she felt the knife being taken out of her hand and set aside. "What the hell was that all about?" he asked her. Elena was so focused on her rapid heartbeat that she almost did not hear him. "Elena?" he asked, searching her eyes for any sign that she was listening.

"I just … I heard … I didn't …" she said, stumbling to get her words out. Stefan continued to stare at her, not quite following what she was trying to say. Elena shook her head slightly. "What are you still doing here?" she asked. "I thought you went home."

"I spent the night to make sure you didn't stop breathing" he said in a tone that made him sound like it had been an inconvenience. Elena picked up on it immediately. "When I went to leave this morning, my car was buried in snow. And I can't drive on those roads right now" he explained.

"Fine, just … fine" she said, turning around to go back up to her room.

Wait" he said, catching her by her arm to stop her. Elena turned around slowly. He held his hand up to her face to get a better look at her.

"I'm fine. I healed" she said, turning her head away from him. It was true. She had healed. Stefan turned her face towards him again, despite her fighting it. But he wanted to look in her eyes and be sure that his suspicions were not getting the better of him. Her story about being mugged by some guy did not add up. "I'm fine Stefan" she said again, pushing his hand away from her face. Elena turned and began walking toward the stairs.

"You're not fine" Stefan said calmly, causing her to stop.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked without turning around.

"You're lying about what happened." Elena turned around quickly with a cold glare across her face. How dare he accuse her of lying. "Your purse? The one that supposedly got stolen?" he asked, crossing his arms across his chest. "It's over there, under the table" he said, nodding in the direction but not actually looking at it.

Elena turned to where he was looking and he saw her expression change to one of defense. "I was using a different purse " she said, avoiding eye-contact with him.

"And you left your wallet in this purse?" he asked, nodding to the purse under the table once again. Yes, he had snooped the moment he had found it.

Elena closed her eyes, remembering that her head was pounding. She just wanted him to leave her alone. "Stefan, my head hurts. I'm tired. Please, just leave me alone." Stefan studied her closely. What was she so unwilling to tell? Elena turned around once again and began walking up the stairs. As soon as she reached the top, Stefan appeared in front of her. She jumped slightly from surprise. Stefan got close. Real close and looked her straight in the eyes. She felt herself tense up as her nervousness prevailed. She no longer wore her vervain necklace that Stefan had given her.

Stefan picked up on her nervousness. Was she afraid that he would compel her? "What happened?" he asked as calmly as he could.

Elena tried to walk around him, but he blocked her path. "Stefan, move" she demanded.

Stefan held her eyes with a cold stare. "What happened?" he asked again.

Elena sucked in a small, sharp breath as her muscles tensed. She was becoming anxious with every passing moment he stood before her. But he wasn't going to give up. "I'm tired" she said through gritted teeth, trying to mask her nervousness with frustration.

Stefan continued to hold her stare. "So am I" he replied, but she knew he had an alternative meaning behind his reply.

"Get out of my way!" she said, raising her voice as her hands crashed into his shoulders in a weak attempt to push him away.

In a split second, she was pushed up against the wall. He was holding her arms and his body was pressed against hers, letting her know that she was not moving until she answered. Elena could feel his heart beat against her own chest. She could feel his hot breath on her lips as he continued to hold her there, staring into her eyes. Elena held his angry stare until she couldn't any longer. He wanted an answer? She'd give him one.

"It was a message" she said, searching his eyes for a response.

"A message?" Stefan asked. "What are you talking about?"

Elena let a small sarcastic grin play on her lips, confusing Stefan greatly. This whole thing was ironic. "A message for you" Elena said. "From Katherine. One of her messenger boys beat the crap out of me. She's tired of being ignored by you" Elena explained, letting her sarcastic grin fade. While Katherine's purpose was to get Stefan's attention, she had also managed to focus Stefan's attention on Elena. Stefan hadn't wanted anything to do with Elena since … well … since he found out about her and Damon.

Stefan, replaying Elena's words in his head, slowly let go of her hands. "What are you waiting for?" Elena asked. "Go find her" she said, moving forward to walk away from him.

But Stefan did not move to let her leave. Elena stopped with a frustrated expression on her face. "Elena" he said, thinking of what to say.

"You know what I love most about this whole situation?" she asked him. "The fact that it took an incident like this for you to even acknowledge that I exist."

The guilt began to seep out of Stefan as he realized this was his fault. He had been ignoring Katherine for months, knowing that she could retaliate at any time. And she had retaliated by going after Elena. A bold, yet easy move on Katherine's part. "I'm sorry" was all he could say, looking away from her as he said it.

"You can't even look me in the eyes when you say it" Elena said. When his eyes returned to hers, she almost regretted saying it. He was trying so hard to hide his feelings, his emotions, and his eyes were going to give him away. "He should have just killed me" she said quietly. She didn't expect a reaction from him. She didn't expect anything from him anymore.

Stefan saw the pain in her eyes as she said it. Like she had no more happiness left inside of her. Had he made her miserable? Starting with the day he rescued her? Should he have even rescued her? He had cheated death and look where it had gotten them. In more danger. Werewolves. Katherine. Klaus. Maybe she would be better off dead. At least then, she would be safe. But he was too selfish to let her die.

He stepped closer to her once again and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. He settled his hand lightly against her cheek, just looking at her. He always knew she was beautiful. But he was always amazed every time he took the time to really look at her. Elena looked into his eyes, wondering what he was thinking. What he was feeling. "I'm sorry she did that to you" he said. Stefan would make Katherine pay. He promised himself he would.

Slowly, he leaned closer to her and softly brushed his lips against hers. Elena's eyes closed, but opened as soon as she felt the loss of contact. It was quick, but it had an effect on her. Then, she felt his hand leave her face and move slowly down to her waist, and moving it under her shirt. Stefan searched her eyes to make sure what he was doing was okay. With no protest, he leaned in and kissed her again, this time making the kiss last much longer. Elena felt herself melt into his kiss.

And then she was being pulled away from the wall and pushed backwards. As sure as Elena was that she would trip and fall, she never did. He never let her. Stefan's lips never left hers. The next thing she remembered was the back of her legs hitting the bed and him tumbling over the top of her.

All rational thoughts left his head as the need for touching her took over. His hands ran up her body and then back down. For the first time since his lips had touched hers, they left her lips and moved down her neck, nipping lightly at her soft skin and then pressing gentle kisses. Her eyes remained shut as he continued. Stefan moved his lips back to hers, realizing there was not much more he could do with her shirt still on.

His kisses were greedy and Elena pulled him closer, slipping her trembling fingers underneath his shirt. Stefan could sense that she was tense. Her body was almost rigid and her fingers trembling. He lifted himself off of her slowly, pulling his shirt over his head. He immediately moved back over her. "Relax" he whispered in her ear, causing her to shudder slightly. Elena took a small breath and then let it out. She gasped when she felt his cold hands suddenly under her shirt, lightly touching her toned stomach. "Sorry" he mumbled against her lips, forgetting that she was much more sensitive to hot and cold than he was. Elena seemed to forget her surprised reaction when his hand ran up under her breast, cupping it softly. She let out a sigh, closing her eyes again.

Stefan's other hand reached for the hem of her shirt, gently pulling it over her head. His lips came crashing back down on hers briefly before they started trailing down her chin, her neck, her breasts. He kissed around them softly. He paid each one attention, nipping lightly and then sucking to ease the sensitive spot. But his destination was still lower and Elena's anticipation grew. Having been with him many times over their two year relationship, she found his touch familiar, though, he surprised her every now and then.

When his head had come back up to hers and he was kissing her jaw, she ducked her own head into the curve of his neck, whispering, "I love you." She had wanted to say those words to him for so long since they broke up, and finally, she could.

Stefan returned his lips to hers, kissing her softly. If only she could know what those words meant to him right now. His whole pursuit of asking Elena why she had been with his brother went out of his mind and he hoped it would stay gone. Because nothing else mattered anymore. She loved him. And he loved her. Stefan tore his lips away from hers, staring down at her. "I love you too" he whispered back.

There would always be complications for them. It was inevitable. Damon would always be around. And so would Katherine. But if they truly loved each other, then these complications would be obstacles rather than barriers. Elena smiled up at him. "Don't ever stop saying that" she whispered, reaching her head up to capture his lips once again.


End file.
